Brazil's New President


Who is Jair Bolsonaro?
Jair Bolsonaro is Brazil’s new president and often compared to United States president Donald Trump. Bolsonaro vision of eradicating corruption, driving down crime, and promoting traditional family values led him to victory. During Bolsonaro’s 27-year career as a congressman, the far-right politician has been known for celebrating the brutal military dictatorship that ruled Brazil for two decades and for repeatedly attacking the country’s black, LGBTQ, and indigenous communities. Jair Bolsonaro has said racist, misogynist, and anti-LGBTQ statements such as “having a daughter is a "weakness", told a congresswoman she was "too ugly" to be raped, claimed some black people were not "even good for procreation", and said he would rather one of his four sons "die in an accident" than be gay.” These statements did not prevent him from winning. Factors that led to Bolsonaro winning the election was his populist message, a disinformation campaign, Brazil’s economic crises, its crime rate, the collapse in the people’s trust in politicians, and the imprisonment of his main rival have led to a far-right takeover of one of the world’s newest democracies. An immediate action that Bolsonaro did when he started as president has issued a decree to put the minister of agriculture in charge of designating protected lands for indigenous peoples a move that’s widely seen as undermining indigenous rights and environmental protections.



Trump- Bolsonaro Press conference Background
President Donald Trump and Brazilian leader Jair Bolsonaro met at the White House in mid-March. The Brazilian president is like a mirror image of Donald Trump which made this press conference very interesting. During the three-day visit, the two leaders talked about many things including the presence of fake news. Trump and Bolsonaro praised each other over and over again. They talked about the crisis in Venezuela and they both railed against socialism. Both leaders said it was time for Nicolas Maduro to step down in Venezuela. President Trump even said that he would help Brazil join NATO. This is a reversal on President Trump's part because he had said that NATO was obsolete in the past and that countries could only join if their military spends 2% of their GDP on defense. Brazil only spends 1.4% of its GDP on defense. So, the fact that Trump offered to help with this is very interesting. The two leaders expressed hope that the end of socialism would take place in the Western Hemisphere sometime in the near future. They have promised to bring freedom and democracy to the people of Venezuela. Brazil has promised to play a substantial role in this process. The two leaders also talked about major right-wing talking points such as God, traditional family lifestyles and the existence of fake news in our societies. Trump praised Bolsonaro for using the term fake news. Trump also called the Brazilian president an extraordinary leader. Bolsonaro also backed up Trump on the border wall by basically saying that most immigrants were dangerous and did not have good intentions. The two leaders also talked about military options to resolve the situation in Venezuela. Bolsonaro also stressed the importance of a strong US Brazilian relationship. It is ironic that the US and Brazil are the two largest democracies in the Western Hemisphere because both of their leaders take steps to oppress civil liberties.


Amazon Impact
   One of the biggest concern around Bolsonaro`s administration is the possible impact on the Amazon forest and the indigenous people who live in it.  During his campaign Bolsonaro made his stance clear; he sees the Amazon forest as a resource and looks to expand trade from it. Bolsonaro has already proposed building roadways through protected forested areas. What is more, the president has threatened to withdraw Brazil from the Paris climate agreement. While this exit still only remains a threat many are skeptical that the Paris agreement will hinder Bolsonaro from increasing the environmental impact of Brazil. Bolsonaro is extremely friendly to heavy carbon footprint industries such as the oil and gas industry with many expecting this business to thrive under the new administration.  
Bolsonaro disregard for the Amazon rainforest extends to the indigenous people who live within it. The president has been quoted saying the indigenous people needed to “either adapt or simply vanish”.  With the new administration taking over many believe illegal loggers and land grabbers will find very little push back from the government if they were to threaten the indigenous people. Bolsonaro`s policies and stances could lead to disaster to not only the rainforest but the people who have lived within it for years.
The Amazon needs to be protected due to its position as a vital resource to not just the locals but the world as a whole.  It is considered the lungs of the planet and is responsible for absorbing 2 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide every year. It has also been shrinking thanks to deforestation, with 27,772 square kilometers being cleared in 2004.  Since then conservation movements have been made to preserve it. These movements have found success with the number of square miles being cut to 4,571. However, these efforts may be abandoned under Bolsonaro`s leadership exacerbating the environmental problems our planet faces.  


Recommendation
The similarities between president Trump and Bolsonaro are quite concerning when it comes to progressive ideas in the world. Many of the things Bolsonaro has said are very revealing of his character and how he feels about others that are different from him. This along with his policies regarding climate change could be dangerous for the world. With the Amazon being such a vital resource functioning as the “lung” of the planet we must be careful with how we handle him. With Trump as the president, these ideas seem to pose even more of a threat as he seems to align himself with these climate change ideas. They both seem to be more worried about increasing trade than about the environmental health of the world. If trying to slow global warming is a priority to the American people that they must be careful about moving forward with people like this. The American voters must pick what they value more and vote for leaders that will fight for their opinions. With things like the Paris Climate Agreement, we must be very careful to vote for those who trust science and will not act strictly based on monetary incentives.









Bibliography

Chemnick, J. “Conservationists Worry about Amazon's Fate after Bolsonaro's Victory in Brazil.”

E&E News. Last Modified October 30th, 2018. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/conservationists-worry-about-amazons-fate-after-bolsonaros-victory-in-brazil/



Kirbyjen, Jen.“Corruption, fake news, and WhatsApp: how Bolsonaro won Brazil.” Vox. last modified October 29, 2018. https://www.vox.com/world/2018/10/29/18025066/bolsonaro-brazil-elections-voters-q-a.
Ross, Jamie and  Mercer, Martha.“Why the Hell Has Brazil Elected Far-Right Jair Bolsonaro as President?” Daily Beast. Last modified October 29, 2018.


Stolks, Eli, Biernan, Noah. “Trump embraces Balsonaro Another brash president enmeshed in scandal.” The LA Times. 19th March 2019. https://www.latimes.com/politics/la-na-pol-trump-bolsonaro-brazil-press-conference-20190319-story.html
Tharoor, Ishaan. “Trump and Balsonaro’s far right press conference.” The Washington Post. 15th March 2019. https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2019/03/15/trump-bolsonaros-far-right-summit/?utm_term=.f553025556f9

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